"My lord, you are different from what I imagined."
Looking at the slightly frail "woman" standing opposite him, Todd scratched his head and didn't know how to address her for a moment.
"Mr. Dion?"
"Miss Dion?"
After thinking for a while, Todd omitted the title, looked at the other party's simple women's clothes, and said hesitantly: "There are some differences between what you think and what I think..."
After glancing at the two people looking at each other with a headache, Tristan squeezed in between them and said to Todd: "Find a place, I have something very important, we need to talk alone."
The latter glanced at the knight dressed in women's clothing and nodded.
The two of them came to the exposition hall of the church and closed the door.
Tristan first asked a question: "On the way here, I heard that you took in the Queen of the Silver Ring Kingdom and a rebel army a few days ago?"
Todd admitted that it was true.
Tristan lowered his chin and thought for a while: "If I had known about this earlier, maybe I would have brought some soldiers this time."
After hearing what the other party said, Todd asked a little strangely: "I saw the entourage of the church mission. Didn't you already bring a group of soldiers?"
Tristan pinched his eyebrows with a headache: "No, they are not soldiers..."
Afterwards, the man explained the events of the "Disaster of Truth" to the head of the Knights.
Todd listened to the other party's introduction, his eyes opened wider and wider, and finally stammered: "You...you mean that the group of soldiers you brought are just a group of college students?"
Tristan nodded slightly.
Todd took a long breath, closed his eyes helplessly, and showed a wry smile.
Speaking of which, Muxi Town is about to become a haven for fugitives...
The serfs who escaped from the nobility, the aliens who suffered persecution, the queen who was scolded as a disaster, the army who rebelled and fled, and now a group of students who were defined as heretics came. The most ironic thing is that these people actually live on the land of the church,
He also accepted the protection of the Knights of the Holy See.
Todd opened his eyes and said: "When I saw your letter a few days ago, I thought you had brought reinforcements to Muxi Town..."
Then, he sat up straight, with a serious look on his face, and recounted the recent events in Muxi Town.
The young deacon touched his chin with his hand, and after thinking, he said: "The commander from the Southern Legion is right. Even if there was no defection, Muxi Town would have been attacked, but due to insufficient information he obtained
, the analysis may not be sufficient. Next, I want to tell you some news I just learned, they are very important!"
Tristan first explained to Todd the situation around Muxi Town: "According to the sacred agreement concluded between the church and many secular countries, no kingdom is allowed to conduct any form of trade with the northern barbarians. However, according to the church's investigation, the Silver Ring Kingdom is
A few months ago, many large-scale transactions were secretly conducted with the barbarian tribes. They used weapons and armor to exchange large amounts of gems and gold sand from the barbarians."
"Due to the lack of effective evidence, the church had to use the Holy Acropolis to exert military pressure on Silver Ring City. At the same time, it sent envoys to negotiate, using both hard and soft methods to ask them to stop this behavior immediately. It even made statements that if Silver Ring City
If this continues, the Holy Acropolis will not hesitate to
Seize the stronghold by going to war and destroy the trade routes to the north." Tristan tapped the table with his knuckles, his expression solemn: "At the same time, according to reliable information, the barbarians and the pirates of the northern islands have already
An armistice was signed and a provisional alliance was possible."
Tristan moved his body closer to Todd and asked in a deep voice: "Do you know what this means?"
Todd digested the information provided by the other party in his brain.
1. In order to alleviate the domestic financial and tax crisis, the Silver Ring Kingdom began to trade with the northern barbarians.
Second, the church and the Holy Acropolis adopted a combination of carrot and stick, intending to force Silver Ring City to immediately suspend trade with the barbarians, and claimed that they would not hesitate to use war to destroy trade routes.
Third, the northern barbarians concluded a temporary alliance with the pirates of the northern islands and opened up sea routes.
Combining the above three points, Todd came to a conclusion that made him sweat.
Since the trade route between Silver Ring City and the northern barbarians may be interrupted by the army of the Holy Acropolis at any time, the former two need to find a safer new trade route to stay away from the threat of war; and the temporary agreement between the barbarians and the pirates provides
This trade route opened up a perfect passage - the sea.
However, there is still one biggest problem that needs to be solved in this maritime passage - Muxi Town.
Muxi Town is located at the throat of the west coast, facing Waiheke Island across the sea. It is surrounded by plains with wide views. As long as a cavalry unit is stationed in the town, no trading caravan can safely go back and forth under the eyes of the town.
.
Therefore, for Yinhuan City and the barbarians, the existence of Muxi Town is like a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh that must be removed.
After thinking about all this, Todd sat on the chair, looked at the young deacon opposite, and said: "You mean that Muxi Town is in the vortex of war? And if I guessed correctly, the church is actually
I hope to see Muxi Town fall into war. In the war between secular kingdoms, the church only has the power to mediate, but it is inconvenient to directly participate in the war. But if
If Muxi Town, the land of the church, is attacked, the church will get a reason, the best reason for the church army to set foot on the secular kingdom. Therefore, the church uses Muxi Town as a bait and a way to start a war.
Excuses. To the church, we are just dispensable discards in the plan."
When Tristan heard this, he had unexpected surprise on his face. Later, he said to Todd in a complimentary tone: "Yes, Mr. General, it is really rare for you to think of this."
Todd tilted his body a little and looked at the other party in confusion: "I don't understand something. Since you already know the future fate of Muxi Town, why do you still send those students here?"
The young deacon said: "General Commander, you may not know that the situation in the capital is getting worse and worse, and these students have no other place to go. Regarding Muxi Town and the Muxi Knights, my master and I have a suggestion
.”
Todd listened to the other party's words and had an ominous premonition in his heart: "Suggestion?"
"Abandon Muxi Town, take your Muxi Knights and set off south!"
Todd stood up from his chair in shock: "What did you say?! Give up Muxi Town?!"
Tristan took out a lot of documents from his luggage: "These are things that my master and I worked hard to get. This letter is the transfer order of the Knights, and this letter is
Permit pass through the pass, and this is..."
"Wait a minute!"
Todd slammed his hands on the table and shouted loudly: "Are you kidding me?! There are more than a thousand people in this town! How can so many people move just because they say they want to move?! And it's going to be winter soon."
, the heavy snow will soon block all the roads, and you won’t even be able to get out, let alone move the whole town!”
"General Commander, please note that I did not say that the entire town moved south, I said that the Muxi Knights..."
Seeing the man opposite say this with a calm expression, Todd took a deep breath, his mind buzzing: "You mean... you want me to abandon the whole town... and run away?"
Tristan pursed his lips: "Commander, this is not an escape, this is a temporary retreat. You will have a chance to return in the future..."
"You want me to leave the residents of Muxi Town to the pirates from the north and those cruel nobles?!"
Tristan's nails dug deeply into his palms, and he tried his best to keep his tone from being sad and painful: "You can bring all the talents and items you think are valuable. As for the residents who stayed, they used to be
The people of the Silver Ring Kingdom should not suffer too much..."
"What about those serfs who escaped? What about the merchants who evaded exorbitant taxes? And what about those people who chose to move to Muxi Town because they trusted me?!"
Tristan, who was gradually losing his patience, pounded the table with his fist, stood up, looked at Todd, and said coldly: "Commander, in war, naive people die the fastest! Necessary giving up is to avoid unnecessary
The sacrifice, only by living can we have hope of revenge!"
After a moment of dead silence.
Todd's expression was terrifyingly calm. He grabbed the edge of the table and said in an unusually low tone: "Maybe you don't believe it, but I have died once. Death is not scary, nor is it sad. The sad thing is that even though
Living, but life is worse than death, and living is worse than death. Although you can escape many things in life, you cannot escape yourself."
Tristan was stunned.
In the young deacon's impression, Todd was a gentle, humble, and polite man. At this moment, he saw another side of this 15-year-old boy that he had never seen before.
The young man packed up the documents on the table, walked slowly to the door of the room, turned his head and glanced at Todd: "General Commander, if you want to convince me, just words are not enough. What I want to hear
Yes, how do you plan to deal with the double team of the Silver Ring Army and the North Island Pirates. Please remember that it is the end of November and you do not have much time..."
Watching the deacon disappear at the other end of the door, Todd sat back in his chair and buried his face in his hands.
——————————————
Todd was sitting on a bench in the square in front of the church, looking at the bustling and busy crowd in front of him. No matter how busy the residents in front of him were, they would always bend down and say hello when passing by him.
Just yesterday, Friar Joe and Old Aiden finally succeeded in developing new cement. Both the firing speed and the hydration time of the new cement are faster, harder and less expensive than the cement recorded in ancient books.
.
The old knight Cumberland is on the eastern plain of the town, teaching Huggins and his subordinates how to carry out group charges and operations, ensuring that these young men who have been separated from their horses for too long will not go to the battlefield and even have basic skills.
All combat skills are difficult to use.
Under the collective watch of the town residents, Knight Dion finally changed into a pair of neutral casual clothes after several ineffective protests, and took a group of students to stay in a hotel on the commercial street of the town.
Todd looked at the ground, sometimes thinking about what Tristan said yesterday, and sometimes worrying about how to deal with the future. This kind of aimless thinking continued from noon until the sun went down.